On behalf of the Pleiades National Planetarium conference planning committee, I would like to provide you all an update on where we are in the planning process. We are getting closer to finalizing all the details for the conference including registration, schedule, and sponsorship information.

As you already know, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in St. Louis Missouri will hosting the Pleiades National Planetarium
Conference. Anna Green and her staff are working very hard to make sure your conference experience is truly stellar.

We know that many of you need ample time to plan your travel arrangements so this email is to assist you in getting all the available work started so we can see you at the conference this fall. Below you will find a breakdown of all the information we currently have available for you.

The conference will be from Tuesday October 10th to Saturday October 14th.

There will be a pre conference Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS) held at Seiler Instruments Headquarters on Tuesday October 10th from 9 am to 4 pm.

Registration cost will be $175 for early bird and will include all meals sans banquet, which is expected to be an additional $40-50. There will be a $25 discount to those who host a workshop at the conference or submit a paper.

The conference hotel will be at the Renaissance Airport Hotel and the rate will be $109.00 USD/night. Clicking the hotel name link above will take to the website with the rate discount code applied. Rooms are already 1/3 reserved so they are expected to sell out so please be sure to book your room soon!

We are also planning to feature lots of professional development including panel discussions, master courses, paper sessions, portable dome village, exhibit hall, and dome sessions. These details are currently being worked on and we expect to have the website completely updated and ready for registration to sometime in May.

Right now we taking requests for those interested in running workshops and/or presenting a paper at the conference. For paper submissions please email me at demeterd@seminolestate.edu with your title and abstract. For workshops please submit a workshop request form by viewing the attached form in this email. Please submit the completed form to me at demeterd@seminolestate.edu. A conference workshop and paper committee will be selecting papers and workshops and will be contacting you by mid April if your workshop was selected. Submissions are due by Sunday April 2nd.

A combined regional conference that brings together and reflects the unique cultures of the seven United States regional affiliates (with the approval and support of IPS): MAPS, GLPA, GPPA, PPA, RMPA, SEPA, SWAP.